These are the sermons that I preach each week. And some other things, too.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

A Prayer

We thank You, Father, for revealing Yourself to us. What a kindness. We don’t have to wonder if You are or what You are like. You’ve told us. And we thank You that over the centuries You have guided Your Church to work to understand this revelation of who You are. So, we have heard words applied to You, words like infinite, eternal, Trinity, omnipotent. Good words. Helpful words. Words that help us to know You.

But, Father, the word that I think that we need to grapple with is the word ‘person’. You have revealed that You are a person. That means something. That means that there are ways that You do things. You have likes and dislikes. You have a certain style when it comes to how You express Yourself. Just as we are persons, You are a person. And that, of course, makes sense since You made us to be like You. But it’s too easy for us, Father, not to know and love You as a person. It’s too easy for us to think of You as some religious idea, some theological concept, a distant and vague something or other. But that is just wrong. You’re a person. And we really need to get that.

One big concern that I have about this, Father, is the way it affects how we pray. Prayer becomes this odd religious thing. It’s not so much talking to a person, someone with a personality, as much as just being religious. And that’s deadly.

Father, the point of Jesus’ coming is for each of us to enjoy You, to enjoy deep communion with You, to enjoy getting to know You as another person. Life has a certain tang to it when that happens. Reality feels different. But all of that is lost if You are just some theology to us.

So, Father, help us. Help us, first, to see the problem. You really are a person, but we all too often fail to see You as a person and interact with You as a person. Help us to see that there is so much more of You to enjoy. You are a person.

And then, help us to see the solution in the Gospel so that we would work hard to get to know You as a person by Your grace. Help us to understand Your personality better so that we can have honest conversations with You, person to person.

That’s when being a Christian becomes more. It becomes real. It becomes the adventure of one person getting to know another person and enjoying what that means. Help us in this, Father, so that the world around us will begin to see what they’re missing. Help us to do this so that Jesus’ goal in coming will be achieved. There is so much more, Father. Help us to get it. Through Christ our Lord Amen.